This sum'bitch was released on my fifth birthday... not that I remember it or anything, and it's not a truly memorable release, but it's obvious that Artillery had some chops. Even though they were probably one of the earliest thrash bands, it's clear that they've been influenced by Metallica, altough they aren't really derivative of that band. Actually they're kind of like a European version of Metallica, with that same melodicism and knack for writing catchy stuff but with a more German-thrash feel, even though they're from Denmark.
1. Time Has Come
2. The Almighty
3. Show Your Hate
4. King, Thy Name is Slayer
5. Out of the Sky
6. Into the Universe
7. The Eternal War
8. Fear of Tomorrow
9. Deeds of Darkness
Score: 7/10
If albums were judged on their first track, Tales of Terror would score a 9.5 out of 10... but they're not, so it doesn't. "Plunging to Megadeath" sounds like a song off of Hell Awaits before Hell Awaits even came out! Unfortunately, the rest of the album, while not bad, just isn't great. In fact, after "Plunging to Megadeath", the second track "Outer Limits" sounds like it features a completely different singer with a completely different band. The whole thing kind of goes like that though -- Hallows Eve sounds a little like Metallica sometimes, a little like Maiden later, and then on to sounding like Anthrax.
1. Plunging to Megadeath
2. Outer Limits
3. Horrorshow
4. The Mansion
5. There Are No Rules
6. Valley of the Dolls
7. Metal Merchants
8. Hallow's Eve
Score: 6/10
Well finally, the last of the "Big Four" throw their hat into the ring. It's understandable though, since Mustaine had to recover from being kicked out of the Band Who Would Be the Biggest in the Land, and recover he did. You'd expect Megadeth's debut to sound like Kill 'Em All but it really doesn't, it has a sound that's pretty unique -- hell, it has a piano intro, which is a definite first for thrash! But it also shows that Metallica didn't just fire an alcoholic egomaniac, it showed that they fired an alcoholic egomaniac who can write a mean song and fucking SHRED.
The song are great, but they really get going with "Rattlehead" (Dave's answer to "Whiplash"?), continues with "Chosen Ones" and finishes off the trifecta with "Looking Down the Cross". The songs are quick, dynamic, well-written and catchy as hell. But then we come crashing down to Earth a little... "The Four Horsemen" shits all over "Mechanix" and it's painfully obvious. Dave, they took your song and made it better, that's it. Oh, and another shitty thrash cover song... thankfully I've been listening to the re-release with "These Boots" at the end, and it seriously makes the album easier to listen to.
1. Last Rites/Loved to Deth
2. Killing is My Business... and Business is Good!
3. Skull Beneath the Skin
4. These Boots
5. Rattlehead
6. Chosen Ones
7. Looking Down the Cross
8. Mechanix
Score: 8.5/10
On Destruction's debut EP, the overall sound was pretty aggressive. Something changed with Infernal Overkill though. The whole thing just sounds kind of sterile and the vocals have almost no intensity. The songs aren't great either, as there's nothing really memorable here. It's obvious that Mike Siffringer is a tremendous guitarist but the band has taken a step back from that seminal EP from a year before. There's some good stuff here; "Bestial Invasion" features some great riffs, as does the instrumental, "Thrash Attack" but the whole thing is largely hampered by a lack of memorable songwriting and a pretty poor vocal performance/production.
1. Invincible Force
2. Death Trap
3. The Ritual
4. Tormentor
5. Bestial Invasion
6. Thrash Attack
7. Antichrist
8. Black Death
Score: 6/10
As soon as the first frantic riff of the title track kicks in, it's obvious that this is another step forward for thrash metal. We haven't heard this before. The level of violence has been increased, not only in the riffage, which is obvious, but in the lyrics too. James Hetfield hinted at one of thrash's major lyrical themes of street violence with "Seek & Destroy" but Paul Baloff got downright explicit. I mean, "We'll kick in your face, and rape and murder your wife"? These guys aren't messing around!
There's a bit of a disconnect between Baloff and the rest of the band though. The band -- the 'H-team' and all that -- are a well-oiled killing machine. These guys lock into a groove and are almost business-like about it. They're so fucking tight, it's ridiculous. Then we have Paul fucking Baloff, who is more metal than a goddamn anvil but any true skill or talent he does not have. Paul flails into every song like a drunken street fighter while the band systematically dismembers you with the steady hand of a trained killer. It's a mismatch.
That being said, this is probably the most influential thrash record we've seen other than the first two and Ride the Lightning. Bands will emulate this style throughout the 80's to varying degrees of success -- hell, bands are still emulating it. Is it the best album ever made? No, there are songs that are less than great, but Bonded by Blood is one of those blueprint albums, and it's a good one.
1. Bonded By Blood
2. Exodus
3. And Then There Were None
4. A Lesson in Violence
5. Metal Command
6. Piranha
7. No Love
8. Deliver Us to Evil
9. Strike of the Beast
Score: 8.5/10
As soon as album-opener "Raise the Dead" kicks in, it's pretty apparent that Overkill are no rookies. The band possesses an obvious sense of drama, a flair for the epic and a serious knack for writing great songs, so much so that I truly believe that if Iron Maiden were a thrash band from New Jersey, they'd sound a hell of a lot like Overkill did in 1985. Feel the Fire is all at once a throwback and a forward-thinking affair -- it sounds a lot like the NWOBHM-meets-punk of Kill 'Em All, but at the same time it thrashes like no one really has yet. At a time when most of their brethren were banging their head against the wall at 100 mph, Overkill fully understand the dynamics of fast versus slow, heavy versus soft, and use them to great success.
Blitz's vocals are an obvious highlight. Sure, Hetfield and Araya can scream and convey anger and hatred, but Bobby can do those things and then croon and warble like (a decidedly less talented and trained) Ronnie James Dio! Bobby G's performance on guitar is another plus. Precise when it needs to be, sloppy when it wants to be and always deadly, Gustafson's riffs serve as inspiration for countless thrash guitarists-to-be. Add to that DD's thundering bass and Rat's lively drumwork, and you have the total package. I haven't even mentioned the songs, but it doesn't really matter. The album is as solid as any.
With Feel the Fire, Overkill established themselves as one of the premier bands of the fledgling thrash movement. They've put themselves in the same league as Metallica and Slayer, and at that point it's very prestigious company. How they didn't get thrown in to the "Big #", I'll never know but maybe it was for the best -- just look at them now. "Ride high, ride tall, Overkill will never fall."
1. Raise the Dead
2. Rotten to the Core
3. There's No Tomorrow
4. Second Son
5. Hammerhead
6. Feel the Fire
7. Blood and Iron
8. Kill at Command
9. Overkill
10. Sonic Reducer
Score: 9.5/10
At this point, Razor are still pretty much the same band that released the Armed and Dangerous EP. The new songs are a little different, with a bit more of a thrash feel to them, especially "Escape the Fire", "Gatecrasher" and "Deathrace", but this is still fun, loud speed metal for the most part. Dave Carlo and company have obviously been listening to what's been happening in the scene though. There's an attempt at greater aggression and varied songwriting in the newer songs, so much so that the old songs from the EP sound almost poppy in comparison. The better songs from Armed and Dangerous still kill though. "Take This Torch" will go down as one of my all-time favourites.
1. Take This Torch
2. Fast and Loud
3. City of Damnation
4. Escape the Fire
5. March of Death
6. Distant Thunder
7. Hot Metal
8. Gatecrasher
9. Deathrace
10. Time Bomb
11. The End
Score: 7/10
Well here we have it, folks; the first of the pretenders. Blessed Death were a band hailing from that famous little place called Old Bridge, New Jersey and how the hell they got a record out before Overkill, I'll never know, because this is some pretty pedestrian sounding shit. These guys play fast and the vocalist can fucking belt it out like crazy, but Blessed Death manage to sound generic before the genre had even fully formed! It's obvious these guys can play, but the songwriting just isn't there, as nothing memorable presents itself at all.
1. Melt Down
2. Pig Slaughter
3. Omen of Fate
4. Into the Ovens
5. Knights of Old Bridge
6. Eternal War
7. Blessed Death
8. Napalm
9. Kill or Be Killed
Score: 1/10
When I first heard Whiplash, I was a little surprised to find out they were from New Jersey and not Germany. The riffing is aggressive as fuck and the vocals are totally shredded, much like Sodom or Kreator. Whiplash are more speed than thrash, but their aggressiveness makes for a bit of a thrashy experience. Songs like "Red Bomb" and "War Monger" really blur the line, but for the most part this is really solid, aggressive speed metal but worthy of a mention in the thrash conversation.
1. Stage Dive
2. Red Bomb
3. Last Man Alive
4. Message in Blood
5. War Monger
6. Power Thrashing Death
7. Stirring the Cauldron
8. Spit on your Grave
9. Nailed to the Cross
Score: 7/10
This is a funny little EP. But it's obviously a message from Anthrax saying, "Don't worry, we're still here and our new singer can wail just as well as, if not better than our old one!" It starts off well enough with the title track, which has always been one of my favourite 'Thrax tunes... and it's also immediately obvious that Joey can fucking wail! The other new original, "Raise Hell" is alright, and wouldn't sound out of place on Fistful of Metal, but Anthrax is already demonstrating a penchant for inserting stupid cover songs on their albums. Why do I need to hear Joey Belladonna do his best Johnny Rotten impression? I don't. Stop it.
As far as I'm concerned, the main reason to own this EP is for the two re-recordings of the Fistful of Metal tracks. The instrumentation is largely the same, but this is Joey going "Neil? Neil who, motherfuckers?" So what if this weirdo likes Journey? Dude can melt your fucking face! Still though, not the greatest album. It's just a nice introduction for a new singer.
1. Armed and Dangerous
2. Raised Hell
3. God Save the Queen
4. Metal Thrashing Mad
5. Panic
6. Soldiers of Metal
7. Howling Furies
Score: 6/10
Like a lot of people, I was first introduced to the weird world of Peter Steele through Type O Negative, and while the doomy, gothic sounds of that band are lightyears away from the post-apocalyptic speed-thrash of Carnivore, the same wit and humour still applies. The first three songs here are total fucking winners, with pounding double bass, downright maniacal vocals and some pretty hilarious lyrics -- a trend that would continue throughout the album.
There are some tunes that aren't great, like "Armageddon" and "Legion of Doom", and the fact that the vocals are just so out front and powerful kind of wears on you as the album goes on, but this is a solid album. It's also a pretty unique album, especially considering this is a thrash (crossover?) album fron NYC in 1985. How about that wacky chorus in "God is Dead"? It's too bad Lord Petrus had to leave us so soon, even if he wasn't making new Carnivore music (although he WAS playing shows with a new Carnivore lineup).
1. Predator
2. Carnivore
3. Male Supremacy
4. Armageddon
5. Legion of Doom
6. God is Dead
7. Thermonuclear Warrior
8. World Wars III and IV
Score: 7.5/10
